What happens if I overstay my US visa or I-94 date: the 3-year and 10-year bars?

Checked on 2026-10-25

The law bars you from returning for 3 years if you were unlawfully present for over 180 days but under a year and then left, and for 10 years after a year or more. Unlawful presence starts when your I-94 stay ends. Overstaying also voids your visa; a new one normally comes from your home-country consulate.

Key facts

What	The law says	Source
3-year bar	Unlawfully present more than 180 days but less than 1 year, then left voluntarily before removal proceedings began: inadmissible for 3 years from departure	8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(i)(I)
10-year bar	Unlawfully present 1 year or more: inadmissible for 10 years from departure or removal	8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(i)(II)
What counts	Time in the US after the authorized period of stay has expired, or without being admitted or paroled	8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(ii)
Not counted	Time under 18; time with a bona fide asylum application pending (unless you worked without authorization); family unity protection	8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(iii)
Pending extension or change	For the 3-year bar, the count pauses up to 120 days if you filed on time, were lawfully admitted and didn’t work without authorization	8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(iv)
Your visa	Void once you stay past your authorized period; a new visa normally has to come from a consulate in your country of nationality	8 U.S.C. 1202(g)
Waiver	Only for the spouse, son or daughter of a US citizen or permanent resident, on extreme hardship to that relative	8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(v)

How the bars work

The Immigration and Nationality Act counts “unlawful presence”: being in the US after the period of stay authorized for you has expired, or being there without having been admitted or paroled. For a visitor, USCIS points to the date on Form I-94 as the end of the authorized stay.

The bars apply when you leave and later try to come back. If you were unlawfully present for more than 180 days but less than a year and left voluntarily before removal proceedings started, you can’t be admitted for 3 years from the day you left. If you were unlawfully present for one year or more, the bar is 10 years from your departure or removal. Permanent residents are excluded from this rule.

What doesn’t count

The law doesn’t count time while you were under 18, time while a bona fide asylum application was pending (unless you worked without authorization), or time under family unity protection. The bars don’t apply to certain battered women and children, or to victims of a severe form of trafficking where the trafficking was at least one central reason for the unlawful presence.

If you were lawfully admitted, filed a nonfrivolous application to extend or change your status before your authorized stay ended, and did not work without authorization, the 3-year count is paused while the application is pending, for at most 120 days.

Your visa is void

Separately, the law says a nonimmigrant visa becomes void once you stay past your authorized period. To come back as a nonimmigrant, you need a new visa issued at a consulate in your country of nationality (or where the State Department designates if there is none), unless the Secretary of State finds extraordinary circumstances.

Out of status: what USCIS advises

USCIS’s guidance says that if your status expired before you filed to extend or change it, or you otherwise broke its terms (for example by working without authorization), you are “out of status” and USCIS can’t change your status except in limited circumstances beyond your control. It recommends that people who fall out of status leave the US to limit the impact on coming back. The law also bars anyone caught by the unlawful-presence bar, unless waived, from changing status inside the US.

How to avoid overstaying: extend before the I-94 date (see the page on extending a visitor stay).
Visa Waiver (ESTA) visitors can’t extend; only an emergency allows up to 30 days to depart (see the ESTA page).

Sources

8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B) (INA § 212(a)(9)(B)), Aliens unlawfully present (US Code, 2024 edition, GPO) checked 2026-10-25
8 U.S.C. 1202(g) (INA § 222(g)), Nonimmigrant visa void at conclusion of authorized period of stay (US Code, 2024 edition, GPO) checked 2026-10-25
8 U.S.C. 1258 (INA § 248), Change of nonimmigrant classification (US Code, 2024 edition, GPO) checked 2026-10-25
USCIS: I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status (When to File) checked 2026-10-25
USCIS: Extend Your Stay checked 2026-10-25

Change history

2026-10-25: Page created

This is general information, not legal advice, and Lumen is not a law firm. Rules change and offices differ: check the official sources above before you act. Found something wrong or out of date? Write to support@lumen.observer.